Centrifugal sluicing-machine.



A. PONTEN. GENTRIFUGAL SLUIUING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED sun. 27, 1096.

980,001 Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

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A. PONTEN.

GENTRIFUGAL swmme MACHINE.

APPLICATION TILED SEPT. 27, 1906. 980 001 Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDERS PONTEN, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF FORTY-FIVE ONE- HUNDRED'IHS TO JAMES D. MILLAR, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

CENTRIFUGAL SLUICING-MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDnns PON'IEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Berkeley, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Centrifugal Sluicing-hlachines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the separation of metallic particles especially gold from sand or gangue and to the process commonly called concentration, also relates to that class of machines that employ centrifugal force in such separation or concentration, and to certain useful improvements in such process and apparatus.

My improvements consist in the applica tion to the material, of centrifugal force in two planes directed, to separating and forming into strata the mineral particles and sand according to their respective gravity, and also in a lesser degree to causing by means of surfaces oblique to the axis of rotation a slow flow of the material approximately transverse to the direction of the centrifugal force, thereby causing the deposited or compressed strata to move one upon the other so the lighter material will. be pushed off leaving an accretion of the mineral particles to a depth governed by peculiarly constructed dams, or rifiles, that oppose but do not arrest the flow of the lighter materials.

The objects of my invention are to attain celerity and at the same time a uniform action of centrifugal force on the moving material irrespective of accumulated and arrested strata of the mineral and to attain by means of varying the velocity of rotation, different degrees or relation between the centrifugal forces acting for selection or separation and for the off-flow of the gangue or waste sand.

As the separation of mineral particles or the concentration of ores by mechanical apparatus depends u on the relative-weight of the substances dea t with, it was natural and common to depend upon gravity in connection with agitation to cause such separation, but gravity being a limited force, especially in dealing with small particles where their surface far exceeds in proportion their mass, the application of centrifugal force by reason of its greater and controllable intensity has been substituted for gravity in a great Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 27, 1906.

Patented Dec. 2'7, 1910. Serial No. 336,481.

number of cases and has with certain limitation performed separation but failed to divide or select the mineral particles from the gangue in a way to permit uniform and successful continuous treatment. The reason for such failure is that the centrifugal force has been applied normally to and not obliquely on the accumulating strata, and mainly because the catch surfaces or rifl'les have been so made as to arrest positively at certain depths the flow of the Waste material, thus setting up not only a limitation to continuous action, but continually varying conditions of treatment as the process went on.

in my invention the centrifugal force is divided by employing a conical. or divergent rotary vessel containing or receiving the material while in rapid revolution, the angle or slope of the inner acting surfaces being such as to apply about nine-tenths of the centrifugal force normal to the strata of the material and about onetenth to longitudinal flow thereof and in combination with this dual force obstructing riflies with their faces at an angle of or approximately of forty-five degrees to the axis of rotation, so arranged respectively that at some predetermined speed of revolution and degree of centrifugal force the outer or denser mineral stratum will pass under, continue to form and raise and discharge the gangue over the riffles because of their faces being oblique to the longitudinal flow. This angle has been tentatively ascertained and as before remarked is contingent on speed of revolution or the relative degrees of centrifugal force acting transversely and longitudinally on the stratum of material, the angles, of the respective surfaces and to some extent the nature of the material being treated.

Apparatus employed in applying my invention is illustrated by the drawings that accompany and form part of this specification, Figure 1 being a vertical section through a machine or apparatus constructed for that purpose, Fig. 2 a horizontal section on the line 1-1, in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a diagram to illustrate the effect upon and disposition of the material when dually acted upon by centrifugal force according to my invention.

A, represents the rotary chamber or circulator which it will hereafter be termed.

or zones constituting open and unobstriu'zted separating surfaces, The lower surfaces of these ridges or ritl'les are obtuse to the adjacent wall (it the chamber or at an angle of about 15 to the axis of rotation 01: the chamber.

Surrounding the circulator A is a stationary annular casing 8 wl'iich at the bottom has a removable cup 9 provided with a receiving hopper 10 and inlet tube It leading from the bottom of the hopper into the bottom of the cup. At the upper end of the casing i; is an annular trougg h '13, the bottom 14E of which has a helical fori'n, for facilitat- I ing an easy flow of tailings and water to the discharge spent 15. it loose annular flange or cover 16 is placed on top of the casing 8 so that it partially closes the trough 13.

Bearings 17, 17, are provided for the upper end of the shaft 2, which at this point is provided with a pulley 19 by means of which and the belt 20 motion is transmitted to the machine from a suitable motor, (not shown).

The numeral 21 indicates a movable receptaelc for water and solids, it being preferably located on a truck 30 of any approved form. In this movable receptacle 21 the dotted line 22 indicates the surface of the water and the i'iumerous dots 23 the solid matter on the bottom of the receptacle. A spout 25 conveys water from the tank or receptacle 21 into the receiving hopper 10 and numeral 26 stands for an ad ustable overflow pipe of any suitable construction (or as shown)held by friction only in the side of tan r 21 allowing the inner end to be turned to any angle required for regulating the height of the water surface 22, in the tank or receptacle 21. A bucket 27 receives the overflow water from the tank or receptacle.

Numeral 28 shows a part of a spout from a hopper, from which the solid matters or gangues are fed into the receiving hopper 10.

Referring to Fig. 3 this will best serve to explain the process. The angleB is a resultant of the angle C, the latter being as before explained 50 arranged as to direct about onetenth of the centrifugal force vertically or parallel to the axis of rotation. The face angle of the riflles 6, or the angle B is at or approximately at 45 to the axls of rotation and is at an obtuse angle to the Wall of chamber A, so the lighter materials slide over this face when aided by the lifting action of the heavier stratum 7 of mineral so the process can go on under practically uniform conditions until the charge at 7 nears the top of the llllleH G. The dotted lines 7" shows the accumulation of solids under the rillle, and 7, the lower edge as far down as they will accumulate according to the physical law for the angle of rc'iosc. Inside the dotted line 7" and below i everything is moving in the direction of the arrow. The space from I) to [*1 between the ril'lies (3 is necessary to afford the space required for separation as will be understood, such space may be made more or less, but experiments thus far point to an. arrangement practically as shown in the drawings, in which the distance between ritlles is at least three times the length of the space occupied by the accumulated solids beneath the ritlle.

Yihen the machine is ready for operation, the tank 2]. is filled with water in sutlicient quantity for some of it to flow through spout L5 and partially till the receiving hopper l0 and bottom cup 5) as indicated by dotted lines 12 The machine is then set in rapid motion and when full speed is attained, the helical feeder 3 sucks the water up into the circulator A, where it travels upward along the inner wall of the latter until it reaches the top at which point the water is discharged into the annular trough 13 and thence through spent 15, the water is returned to the tank 21. As soon as the circulation of the water is in running order, as above stated, the supply of gangue or black sand is introduced from spout 28. Dropping into the hopper 10, this gangue 01" black sand mixes with the water and after that the gangue follows the course of travel of the water through the machine, as above dcscribed and indicated by arrows in the drawing. From the moment the gangue enters the circulator A through the feeder 3, it is subjected to the action of centrifugal force, created by the high rotary velocity of the cireulator A and it travels upward along the inner conical surface of the cireulator, it is distributed and moves in a uniform layer over the surface or zone between the ritl'les, the heavier particles lodging against the said rili'les indicated by the lines 7 leading down only to such extent as the physical law for the angle of repose will permit.

The specific gravity of gold being six times that of auriferous ganguc and nine teen times the specific gravity of water causes the gold subject to the action of coin trifugal force, during its course of travel over the open conical surface or zone formed between a ritile ring (3, and the layer of solids 7, held under the next ritile above, to instantly separate and lodge nearest the inner wall surface of the circulator A, which surface it follows until it reaches the layer of solids located under the nearest riflle ring above. Upon reaching that layer of solids the gold by virtue of its greater specific gravity continues its travel along the wall surface and gradually crowds out the other solids, the gold itself remaining under the riflle until the machine is stopped for a cleanup the separating of gold from gangue by passing the material over open or unobstructed zones of a conical surface while subjected to the action of centrifugal force being an important feature of my invention. After the solids or tailings pass the top riltle they are discharged into the annular trough 13 and pass out of the machine together with the water through spout 15, dropping to the bottom of tank 21, while the water through spout 25 continues on its course through the machine indefinitely, this being another feature of my invention, namely to economize in the use of water by constantly circulating and re-circulating only the water originally contained in the machine when started. As the tailings 23 accumulate in tank 21 they gradually displace the water, originally filling the tank, but in order to maintain a constant, uniform head of water in the tank 21, the adjustable overflow pipe 26 is employed for letting out displaced water which is saved in a bucket 27. When the tank 21 is filled with tailings it is replaced by another similar one and the operation is continued until the accumulation of gold under the rifile rings necessitates stopping and cleaning out the separated gold. The clean-up is accomplished by washing the contents under the rifiles 6 down into the bottom cup 9, which afterward is removed and emptied into some other receptacle. In this way by a most economical use of water I am enabled to separate gold from auriferous gangue or black sand while subjected to centrifugal action by passing the material over free and unobstructed surfaces in a rapidly revolving conical circulator, provided with rings or rifl'les at such a distance apart that the greater part of the surface between adjoining rings or riflles is left clear after the solids have accumulated below a rifl le to its fullest extent according to the physical law for the angle of repose.

More or less slight changes might, of course, be made in the form and arrange ment of the several parts described without departure from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not wish to limit myself to the exact construction or method herein set forth, but

Having fully described. my. invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A centrifugal sluicing machine com prising a rotary circulator, a casing surrounding the circulator, and a removable cup at the bottom of the casing in which the concentrates are finally washed and caught after the completion of the sluicing operation.

2. A centrifugal sluicing machine comprising a rotary circulator, a casing surrounding the circulator, a removable cup at the bottom of the casing, a receiving hopper in communication with the cup, a trough at the upper end of the casing and means for rapidly revolving the circulator.

3.A centrifugal sluicing machine comprising a rotary circulator, a casing surrounding the circulator, a removable cup at the bottom of the casing, a receiving hopper in communication with the cup, a trough at the upper end of the casing and means for automatically circulating and re-circulat-ing the -water used in the operation of the machine.

4. A centrifugal sluicing machine comprising a rotary circulator, a casing surrounding the circulator, a removable cup at the bottom of the casing for removing the concentrates, a receiving hopper in communication with the cup, a trough at the upper end of the casing and means for automatically circulating and re-circulating the water used in the operation of the machine, said means comprising a tank which receives the discharge from the trough at the upper end of the casing, said tank having means whereby it discharges into the cup at the bottom of the casing and means for catching any overflow from the tank.

5. A centrifugal sluicing mechine comprising a rotary circulator, a surrounding casing having a removable cup at the bottom and a trough at the top thereof, said trough having a helical bottom and the lower end of the circulator having a helical feeder.

6. A centrifugal sluicing machine comprising a rotary circulator, a surrounding casing having a removable cup at the bottom and a trough at the top thereof, said trough having a helical bottom and the lower end of the circulator having a helical feeder, and means for automatically return ing the water discharged from the trough to the cup for re-circulation through the machine.

7. In a centrifugal sluicing machine, the combination with an outer casing, and a rotary circulator having overhanging annular rings or rifiles beneath which the concentrates are caught, the working faces of which rifiles are at an angle of or approximately of 45 to the axis of rotation of the circulator of a combined cup, hopper and inlet tube removably secured to the lower end of the casin 8. In a centrlfugal sluicing machine, a conical rotary circulator, annular rin s or riffies on the inner walls thereof, the fiuwer faces of which are at an obtuse angle to said I and a removable cup at the bottom of the 10 walls, a casing inclosing the eireulator, and easing. a removable cup at the bottom of the casing. In testimony whereof I have signed my '9. In a centrifugal sluicing machine, a name to this specification in the presence of conical rotary clrculutor, annular rings or two subscribing Witnesses.

riffies on the inner Walls thereof, the lower ANDERS PONTEN. faces of Whlch are at an obtuse angle to sand \V1tnesses: Walls, a hehcal feeder at one end of sand A. DELANEY, en-culator, a caslng surroundmg the latter, W. C. MORAN. 

